This is our dad Adrian. He has been living with chronic kidney failure successfully for the past 4 years. Twice a month, he makes a trip to Fresenius Kidney Care and once a month boxes upon boxes of materials needed to perform dialysis are delivered to his home, so much so that it takes up a good portion of his kitchen to be able to store it all. Each night he gives himself an automated peritoneal dialysis from home for 12 hours, in the beginning of his journey on dialysis he received detailed training on how to operate his machine as well as sterile procedures to follow in doing so. After getting off of his dialysis (usually early afternoon), he has an abundance of medications he needs to take before starting his day and then he does it all over again. This is just a small glimpse into the life of living with kidney failure but luckily through all of this, he has been approved to receive a kidney transplant and is now waiting for a donor kidney to become available.
During the course of the past 4 years, Adrian has been on the kidney transplant list. Recently, some adjustments have been made to his treatments because of lack of response to them. Over these years, he has tried staying on track to remain a good candidate for the transplant. As if kidney failure wasn’t enough Adrian also suffers from diabetes and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) among other things. One of the requirements for transplant is to follow strict diets with dietitians as well as visits with physical therapists to help him achieve a healthy weight, but that comes with its own set of challenges. He has been sent home from PT as it was too dangerous for him to continue even at a slow paced walk, he is now on Ozempic and has made adjustments to his diet which has helped but it has been exhausting for someone to figure out.
Currently, Adrian receives benefits which has been such a blessing to him being that he suffers from so many diseases. Unfortunately, after receiving a transplant he may be left with the burden of expenses that come with aftercare that are not covered. He will need to take medications before and/or after to prevent rejection of the donor kidney. Aside from these medications that can cost up to $17,000 annually, he would need regular follow-up examinations for the life of the functioning kidney transplant.
We’d love to see our dad get back to having energy to do everyday tasks at home, to take drive to Horsetooth, go fishing at Carter Lake or Red Feather, plant some rose bushes in his yard as he always took pride in his yard work and flowers, go camping, or catch a late night movie at the theatre. He has always reminded us of our camping days with him up at Lake McConaughey when we were younger and how he’d pitch a tent and weather the worst storms and be the last tent standing. There were other things holding him back when he became a grandpa and he has always tried to be more active and present with them but instead has been a voice over the phone majority of their lives. We’d love for him to not be on a schedule and have to be home to start his treatments or be able to travel and not worry about finding a kidney center to treat him while he’s away, (he is a man of his routine so I don’t know that he would have considered going to that extent to begin with). Our dad is a jack of all trades, this disease has robbed our family of learning from him and having experiences with him and we are ready to take on all of the next steps in this journey if it means him having a more fulfilling life.
In our opinion, a second chance at a better quality of life would be our dad finally being relieved of his nightly and weekly duties, not having to worry about how to pay the next bill and enjoy life again the way it was intended, the way most of us take for granted. We wish we could take the worry away ourselves and we will try our very best. If you find it in your heart to give a little or share his story, maybe he can have a small piece of hope in recovering to live a full rest of his life and be able to enjoy it just a little more than he would have otherwise.
Thank you for taking the time out of your life to read his story.
Lacey and Chantal
